And now, despite himself, his biology was making itself known by wanting, craving. It gave him the sense that he was losing himself and it was only a matter of time before he was a gibbering mess and trying to crawl into Park's skin.

"How much longer do I have to be here?" he asked, trying to sound cool. His blood was burning through his veins and there was a trickle of sweat down his spine, but he refused to show how bothered he was.

"We can leave now if you like," Park said. "It's fairly obvious that being in the Nursery is doing you no good. I'll have a talk and we can get your schedule changed."

"You can do that, really?"

"Of course. The whole point of this month is to give you a chance to get to know the Family. We're trying to win you over, not run you off."

"And what perks do I get if you do win me over? My very own boudoir where I'll lounge around getting fat with babies?" He watched the playing children, fragile scraps of humanity always needing something, and the thought of being responsible for some small and helpless life terrified him.

Park seemed to sense the turn his mood had taken and gently grasped his elbow and led him out of the room. "It doesn't have to be that bad. No one wants to force you to do anything really horrible and you will be able to pursue your own interests as long as they're not counter to the Family good."

"And what if they are?" Gregor asked. "What if I'm a monster with a pretty face? Will I be locked in the basement while I breed the Family heirs but never be allowed to see the sunlight?"

Park shook his head. "I think you've read too many of the old Anti-Third Propogandist pamphlets. All those people changed their tune when the world changed, which is proof that they were wrong in the first place."

Gregor opened the door of his room. "It doesn't matter if they were right. 'Sex slave baby machine' has never been one of the things I ever wanted to add to my resume."

"And no one is forcing you to do anything before you're ready."

Park poked around in his familiar pattern of paranoid security. Gregor would have liked to say that it didn't make him feel safer, but that would be a lie.

He was scared in this place with these strangers that wanted every part of him. They would Bind him to their Name and never let him go, re-upping his Contract until he died.

The world swung one way and he went the other. Just standing became impossible and his feet tangled together and he was *yanked* to the left by some invisible force.

He could see the coffee table out of the corner of his eye and there was no way he was going to miss it. And it was going to *hurt*.

"Whoa!" Park grabbed him tightly by the shoulders and he jerked to a stop. Park gathered him in his arms and Gregor closed his eyes.

"I don't feel right," he said.

Park swept him up and carried him toward the bedroom. "I'll call Medical and get someone here. There's definitely something not right." He sounded breathy, but his arms were strong.

Gregor let himself be settled on the bed, but kept his eyes closed to try and limit the quaking of the world. His stomach was getting queasy, but it wasn't too bad. The sudden splitting headache was much worse.